Toyota to recall 885,000 vehicles for air-con woes

NEW YORK – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it will conduct a voluntary safety recall of a combined 885,000 units of its Camry and Avalon sedans as well as the Venza SUV, mainly sold in North America, due to a problem with the air conditioning condenser unit housing.

The vehicles subject to the recall, including Camry Hybrid and Avalon Hybrid models, are those manufactured between August 2011 and June 2013, and have been put on sale in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as well as Europe, the Middle East, South Korea and China.

In those vehicles, water from the air conditioning condenser unit housing could leak onto the airbag control module and cause a short circuit, resulting in illumination of the airbag warning light. In some instances, the airbags could become disabled or could inadvertently deploy.

To remedy this issue, Toyota will apply sealant and install a cover to the air conditioning condenser unit housing seam located above the airbag control module.

There have been two reports of trouble related to the problem, with reports of slight injuries.

Honda confirms recall

Kyodo

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall a combined 13,019 units in the Stepwgn, Stepwgn Spada and Stream minivan models as their engines may stall due to a flaw in the water pump pulley.

In a recall report filed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism, Honda said the models in question were made between November 2009 and March 2011 and sold in Japan, Hong Kong and Macau.

It said a bolt fixing the pulley to the engine may become loose, causing the belt that drives the generator and a coolant pump to be disengaged.

In such an eventuality, the engine will overheat and the amount of electricity stored in the battery will fall, leading to the engine stalling, it said.

Honda, which has received 21 complaints from drivers since February last year, said it will replace the flawed pulley with an improved version.